EOLAB develops the Sentinel-3 Albedo Retrieval Algorithm in the Copernicus Climate Change Service context

The aim of Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) is to supply access to reliable climate data in support of strategies to adaptation and mitigation to climate change. The C3S provides access to high-quality climate data through its Climate Data Records (CDRs) of atmospheric, marine and land Essential Climate Variables (ECVs). Global Earth Surface Albedo (SA) satellite-based products are included in the land (biosphere) portfolio. SA is a magnitude which quantifies the fraction of solar energy reflected by the surface of the Earth.

ELAB has developed (in collaboration with VITO) the retrieval algorithm, which incorporates measurements from the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) and the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) on-board Sentinel-3 A and B satellites.

First preliminary validation results over 10-months demonstration period (July 2018-April 2019) showed good agreement with MODIS and existing C3S products based on PROBA-V. Our results have demonstrated the feasibility to estimate global fields of SA from Sentinel-3 observations, with similar quality than existing operational products. These Sentinel-3 based SA datasets will be the continuity to the existing C3S SA CDR, introducing improvements in terms of spatial resolution (300 m) and spectral information (9 spectral albedos)  in contrast to previous datasets based on Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR; 4 km, 4 channels) and VEGETATION instruments (VGT; 1 km, 4 channels).

You can access to documentation and the Climate Data Record of Surface Albedo:

https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/satellite-albedo?tab=overview